Nesting can



.Oct 24, 1944- v D. T. cLEMl-:NTs ETAL v2,360,849

NESTING CAN Filed July 13, 1942 i 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct; 24,1944 ton, Va., and John M,l ,Kenderdine, United States Army, SilverSpring, Md.

Applicaton .July '13,

la Claim.

1942, senat-N0. 450,780

Vv(Granted under the act of'Mar'ch A3, 1883, as

amended -April 30,

The invention .described herein, if patented, -'may be manufactured and'.used'byor for the .Government-l forgovernmental purposes, AWithoutt'ne payment to us of any royalty-.thereon.

lThe present invention relatesftolportable con. ,tainers for .liquidsfand refers more` specifically tosheet metal gasoline or vWater =cans Y'of the generali class of containers utilized to-refuelmotor vehiclesand-tovcarry'supplies of drinking .Water by the military forces ofthe-United States and of other'nations.

Before-.describing the' details of the structure `comprising the-preferred 'embodiment of the f present` invention, it maybe pointed outthat in .modern -military operations it has "been found Aentirelyunsatisfactory to f attempt -to reefuel 4mechanized equipment by means'of large "fuel A-tanksor tankfcarsrsincethese provide "an obviousltarget 4for enemygunre, and in allroperations inv the zone of combat itis?` the'preferred '..practice to supply fuel-to thelvariousvehiclesl by,.-means of large numbers offrelativelyrsmall sheet metal cans, usuallyin'thecapa-city "ofapproxilLmately five gallonsv each. `Thismannerzo'fi'revfuelingvmotor vehiclesnecessarily requires many thousandsof fuel containers, and these'vmust,.of

course, beshipped-.from .thepoint of `fmanufacture-fto the area ofcombatbefore beingfput into use. Heretofore the shipping ofthese-convvtainershas presented:'considerable'.diicultysince -the assembledcontainers are:very "bulky 'and vrequire cubic space'greatlyin excess-oi the space`whichwould be: required "by 'an' equivalent weight vofmore compactequipment.

Inview of thissituationitisfproposed toprovide a containerzof noveland-improved design Aso constructed 'and arranged that zit may Vbeshipped to some pointl close to fthe'. area'of com- V.bat ,in adisassembledcondition, the container being so designed and v'constructedthat-.it vmay berassembled easily and Withoutithe.use-of'any heavy typesof 1machinery;'suc'hi.aszlargeapresses that are required to manufacturethe unassembled containers.

Before describing indetail the structure illustrated in the drawings ofthis application, it may be pertinent to point out that the presentapplicant makes no claim to the general idea of shipping containers inknock-down form and assembling them adjacent to the area in which theyare required. On the contrary the subject matter of the presentapplication is limited to the specific details of construction of acontainer of this type that is Wellv adapted to this plan of operationby reason of certain novel elements ofits design and construction.` Toappreciate .these points *ofi novelty it may Y be Avwell .to mentionthat the containers of the class with-Which the, present.applicationdeals are of quite large 'a5 4rsize and lof relatively th-inmetal .construction,

ordinarily having dimensions A. of :approximately -18 inches inheight,-l4 inchesuin length,.and 6 :inches inwidth; andf being lformedof .thin sheet f steel, for r' example, number 20 -USS gauge.

."From the foregoing it-will be'apparent to thoseskilled-in'theart,that'it is notfeasible to draw 'containerfblankshaving vthe-top, bottom, or end Walls atright-anglesto the fsidesysinceblanks of such formation cannot bemested-in telescop- 15 ingrelationshipfwithin each other. -On the other fhan-d; if. the containersare formed Iwith. tapering ftop and bottom 'wal-ls, -thecontainers ywillnot Y stand* properly 'on a level: surface,l norstacksatisfactorlyuponeach other and -will loe-impractiazo-fcal fortherpurpose desired.

It is, therefore, the principal `object of the present invention toprovide asportable container Y for -liquids1 of vnovel L and desirableAformation so `designed and v'constructed that the individual v bla'nkslfrom -which :each ycontainer' is formed .',may-'be'nested invtelescopic relationwith each :otherfor shipping, butxare so formed astostand l in vertical positionvon a' flat horizontal surface.

- Referring'now more particularly to drawings iin f'which fthe t present;preferredembodiment of this 'invention has :been illustrated,

'Figil is -a'side elevationalview'of a portable :container for vliquidsconstructed in `accordance l'with the4 teaching of thisdisclosure.

Fig. `2 lis a vertical sectional Vfview Vtaken sub- 4."stantially ontheplane of the-lineZ-Zin Fig.f1.

fFig.f3 isla fpla'nfsectional viewtaken substan- "tiallyiontheplaneofthe line 3-3in"Fig. `1.

v`F'igeilis -a side` elevational view of acontainer V40 blank, and

Fig. 5 isa: diagrammatic@y sectionalviewfof two containerblanks innested'fposition; oneiblank ACfbe'ing l'telescope'cl within 'the other.

"'fThe container comprises, kin Ygeneral, an -open --siueu blankVwhichforms the-main-.body ofthe container and is closed by a sideplate. A lling opening and handle complete the structure, as will appearhereinafter.

The container blank consists of a single integral sheet metal stampinghaving a large substantially flat main portion or base lll'. The blankis positioned with the base l0 in vertical position to constitute theside of the container and, if desired, the base Ill may be provided withreinforcing ribs Il of any desired conguration to give rigidity to theside of the container. The blank is formed when assembled as a containerto include a rear end portion I2, and a front end portion I3, each ofwhich is ared outwardly from the base Il toward the open portion of theblank. The angular relationship of the flared ends' I2 and I3 withrespect to the base Ill may vary within limits, but an angle of 98degrees between Y may be telescoped within another, but it is notfeasible to flare the bottom portion of thecontainer, since, if this isdone, the container when the parts are assembled will not stand invertical position and will be subject to accidental tipping which willmake it impractical for military use. It is accordingly proposed thatthe bottom portion I4 when the parts are assembled as a container willlie at a right angle (exactly 90 degrees) with respect to the baseportion I of the blank, but the portion of the blank that forms the topportion I5 of the container is flared sufficiently so that theindividual blanks may be easily nested inside of one another. The angleof flare of theV top I5 is variable, but an angle of 100 degrees withrespect to thel base IIJ has been found to give satisfactory results.`

From anv examination of the drawings it will be seen that this structurepermits the container to stand solidly on any horizontal flat surface,since the bottom portion I4 is relatively broad and entirely nat andextends the entire distance between the ends I2 and I3, and completelyacross the bottom of the container from the base III to the oppositeopen side of the container blank.

The open side of the container blank is closed by a relatively fiat sideplate I1, which includes a marginal flange I8 arranged to fit againstthe open side of the container blank, and the side plate I'I may also beprovided with strengthening ribs I9` similar to the ribs II on the baseI0. The side plate II is separately formed, but is ar-Y ranged to t intothe open end of the container blank so that these parts may beseparately manufactured and shipped, and so that the container structuremay be completed by simply inserting the side plate on the open side ofthe blank and welding around the edge of the plate. This may be done inshops having very little equipment since it does not require the heavytainer. In the form of the invention illustrated, the handle is ofVnovel and utilitarian formation, comprising a pair of mounting plates22 and 23 at the opposite ends of the plurality of tubular gripportions24, 25 and 25. The mounting plate 22 is 'secured in face to 'face'relationship against the top I5 of the container, and the tubular gripportions are progressively offset above the top of 'the mountingbracket, the grip 25 being offset ywith respect to the grip 24, and thegrip 26 being offset with respect to the grip 25 so that when the plateis positioned in the angular relationship illustrated in the drawings,the several grip portions of the handle will lie in a common horizontalplane. With this arrangement one of the assembled containers may bestacked on top oi another container, since the broad bottom surface I4may rest firmly on the tops of the grip portionsof .the container. Thusit is entirely feasible to stand an individual container in verticalposition on a at surface, to stack the containers one on'top of another,or to ship the container blanks in disassembled condition with theindividual container blanks nested in telescopic relationship with eachother. (See Fig. 5.)

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the present invention makespossible more efficient useof avaliable shipping facilities and thusoffers an important contribution to the war effort by freeing a largeamount of cargo capacity for the transportation of yother essential Wargoods. Further, this is accomplished by a novel and improved structurethat is of simple mechanical design and well adapted to mass productionmethods of manufacture. It is believed, however, that while the presentinvention has been designed Aspecifically to meet present militaryrequirements and has been adopted by the United States Army as the mostsatisfactory structure presses used in the formation of the blank or iside plate, and it is thus entirely practicable to manufacture theblanks and side plates in localities remote from the area of combat, andto assemble the containers closely behind the lines.

designed for the purpose, yet its utility is not necessarily limited tomilitary uses but may eX- tend to commercial adaptations as well, and itis accordingly requested that the scope of the invention be regarded aslimited only by the scope of the language'of the appended claim in Viewof the prior art.

Having thus described my invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

As an article of manufacture, a hollow blank consisting of a singleintegral substantially rectangular sheet metal stamping having asubstantially flat base and an Vintegral wall ange formed on saidrectangular base and extending from each edge of said rectangularstamping completely around its marginal edges defining four integralpanels arranged at substantially right angles to one another; the blankbeing characterized by the specic formation of said wall flange whereinone of said panels is arranged at right angles to the base and the otherof said panels lie at an angle not less than from said base.

DAVID T. CLElVIENTS. JOHN M. KENDERDINE.

